REV. SAMUEL ODILATU

Fulfilling my destiny

If I lived for a 100 years without impacting any life, those years would be wasted. If I refuse God’s calling on my life, I cannot imagine what my life will become. This is why I give God all the glory for the families, friends and partners whom He used to make my mission trip to Togo this summer possible. The trip has renewed my deep conviction that my life is only meaningful as I live it to impact other lives, and to fulfill my destiny as ordained by the Lord.

I had a chance to spend two and half weeks in Togo and Benin Republic in West Africa with a group of 25 team members from Adonai Partners. During the trip, I had so many opportunities to impact lives, use my time wisely, and relate to different people in different areas. I am humbled by this opportunity.

From the beauty of the Atlantic Ocean in the south to the large countryside of the north, Togo is a country of contrasts. It is divided into five major regions: Maritime, Plateaux, Central, LA Kara, and Savanna Regions. The people are very friendly and fun to be with. Although French is the major language spoken in the country, many of the people we met preferred to engage us in English once they find out that we are from an English speaking country. The further north one travels, the more beautiful and diverse is the scenery of mountains and valleys that welcomes you to rural life, seemingly untouched by time and modern civilization. This is where generations of Tamberma people have lived. The Tamberma people are one of the several unreached people groups in northern Togo. They are predominantly idol worshipers who spend most of their lives toiling on their farms or grazing their cattle. Their traditional family house, called Tata, is one of the most unique architectural buildings I have ever seen.

In this country of about 6 million people, the economic development and technological advancement in the south is one that most Tamberma people living in the northern part of the same country have never seen. I noticed with sadness that the younger generations of Tamberma people have very limited view of the world outside their villages and their traditional way of living. Although this was not my first time in northern Togo, the stare of so many Tamberma children who spend their day in the village without a clue of how life is in the city or what opportunities are available to them, left a desire in my heart to do something that will expose these children to more opportunities in life. The need for community investment that will bring hope and transformation to these children is obvious. It is my prayer that the Tamberma people will not have to wait too long for such transformation.

The activity that l enjoyed the most during this trip was the opportunity to engage in prayer walk and prayer drive along many strategic places. Our program began from Lomé, the capital city of Togo, and we traveled through Dapaong, the farthest major town in northern Togo just before the border with Burkina Faso. As we drove from Lomé on our way to Dapong, we had to pass each of the regions mentioned above. We prayed specifically at each major town throughout these regions. Our goal was to raise prayer altars and plead with God for an open heaven over the entire land. We felt fulfilled as we prayed for the people to experience God’s plans for their lives, for the activities that go on in each location, for God’s kingdom to come among them, and for God’s will to prevail in their lives. We also visited two other Tamberma villages, Nadoba and Bokoumbe. Bokoumbe is in northern part of neighboring Benin Republic.

Throughout the time we spent in Togo and Benin Republic, we witnessed so many answered prayers. Each team member had an opportunity to spend time ministering to the local people. We ministered in three villages and organized a total of four days of free medical clinic, four days of conferences for pastors and missionaries, and two days of evangelistic programs. We showed the Jesus film and also baptized six new believers who had responded to the gospel from our previous visit.

During our medical clinics, many people responded to the gospel including a chief in a village called Kpadjenta. This is one of the villages where we also had an evangelistic program. It was a fulfilling experience to see a person who had been an idol worshipper throughout his life and who is a leader in his community, come out boldly in front of his people and publicly testify of his decision to follow Christ. To God’s glory, a new church started in that village. Another aspect of the trip that impressed me was the way so many local pastors and missionaries came together with their spouses and plugged into what God is doing through Adonai Partners in their communities. They blended very well with us and helped in interpretation during the different programs.

A day before we left northern Togo, we held a review meeting with the local missionaries and team members. We were very pleased to find out that our brethren on the ground are willing to continue the program of winning the Tamberma people to the Lord. God graciously brought five new missionary families to work among the Tamberma people group. God is also raising a few young Tamberma believers who will need our continuous support. Some of these young Tamberma believers had formed a group called Adonai Togo. During our meeting with them, they expressed great desire to undertake discipleship training to equip them to evangelize their own people. The opportunity to sit down with these believers, local missionaries, pastors, to listen to their burdens and the challenges they face daily as they labor in the field was a rich and rewarding experience for me.

I want to thank everyone who prayed and supported our mission trip. Your partnership makes it possible for us to respond with compassion and in a holistic manner to the spiritual, emotional, physical and educational needs of the Tamberma people. The need is great and there is much more work to be done. I believe that we all can work together to bring hope and transformation to unreached and vulnerable people across Africa and beyond. Thanks be to God for His grace that abounds. My daily prayer is for strength and wisdom to use every opportunity that comes my way to advocate for those we met in Africa and to fulfill God’s purpose for my life here on earth.